Elon Musk traveled to China this Sunday to obtain approval for Tesla in data security regulations as well as its driver assistance system, known as Autopilot. The trip, Musk said, was successful.
When he left the country a day later, he did so with the certainty that his electric vehicle company had overcome both problems and that both the regulations and the system had been approved, as announced by the Chinese Association of Automobile Manufacturers:
Tested 76 models from 6 companies including BYD, Ideal, Lotus, Hezhong New Energy, Tesla and NIO met all four compliance requirements for automotive data security.
This was not the only thing on his agenda. The businessman took advantage of what is his second official visit to the country in less than a year to meet with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, with whom he had an interesting conversation in Beijing, according to Musk himself in a post on X:
Honored to meet with Premier Li Qiang.
We have known each other now for many years, since early Shanghai days. pic.twitter.com/JCnv6MbZ6W
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 28, 2024
Meeting between Musk and Li Qiang
During the talk, Qiang assured that Tesla's development can be considered as a "successful model" for economic collaboration between the United States and China: "The economies of China and the United States are deeply integrated. You have me, and I have you. Both sides can benefit from each other’s development," admitted the premier.
However, the electric vehicle company is enduring some turbulence in China, as a result, CNN recalls, Tesla was forced to aggressively cut the prices of some of its models. For this reason, said Wedbush Securities Managing Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst Dan Ives, it was vitally important that the meeting go well:
This is a watershed moment for Musk as well as Beijing at a time that Tesla has faced massive domestic EV competition in China along with softer demand. While the long-term valuation story at Tesla hinges on FSD and autonomous, a key missing piece in that puzzle is Tesla making FSD available in China which now appears on the doorstep.
This trip may have turned the tides. Tesla remains one of the best-selling electric vehicles in China, despite stiff competition from local companies like BYD, and the deals it just closed could help the company prosper in the country.
